Proclamation to the People on the High Cost of Living

(President's Proclamation to the people on the high cost of living)

My fellow citizens:

A situation has arisen in connection with the administration of the railways which is of such general significance that I think it my duty to make a public statement concerning it, in order that the whole country may know what is involved.

The railroad shopmen have demanded a large increase in wages. They are now receiving 58, 63, and 68 cents per hour. They demand 85 cents per hour. This demand has been given careful and serious consideration by the board which was constituted by the Railroad Administration to adjust questions of wages, a board consisting of an equal number of representatives of employees and of the operating managers of the railroad companies. This board has been unable to come to an agreement, and it has therefore devolved upon the Director General of Railroads and myself to act upon the merits of the case.

The shopmen urge that they are entitled to higher wages because of the higher wages for the present received by men doing similar work in shipyards, navy yards, and arsenals, as well as in a number of private industries, but I concur with the Director General in thinking that there is no real basis of comparison between the settled employment afforded mechanics by the railroads under living conditions as various as the location and surroundings of the railways shops themselves and the fluctuating employment afforded in industries exceptionally and temporarily stimulated by the war and located, almost without exception, in industrial centers, where the cost of living is highest.

The substantial argument which the shopmen userge is the very serious increase in the cost of living. That is a very potent argument indeed. But the fact is that the cost of living has certainly reached its peak and will probably be lowered by the efforts which are now everywhere being concerted and carried out. It will certainly be lowered so soon as there are settled conditions of production and of commerce; that is, so soon as the treaty of peace is ratified and in operation and merchants, manufacturers, farmers, miners, all have a certain basis of calculation as to what their business will be and what the conditionswill be under which it must be conducted. The demands of the shopmen, therefore, and all similar demands are in effect this: That we make increase in wages; which are likely to be permanent, in order to meet a temporary situation which will last nobody can certainly tell how long, but in all probability only for a limited time. Increase in wages, will, moreover, certainly result in still further increasing the costs of production and, therefore, the cost of living, and we should only have to go through the same process again. Any substantial increase of wages in leading lines of industry at this time would utterly crush the general campaign which the Government is waging with energy, vigor, and substantial hope of success to reduce the high cost of living. And the increases in the cost of transportation which would necessarily result from increases in the wages of railway employees would more certainly and more immediately have that effect than any other enhanced wage costs. Only by keeping the cost of production on its present level, by increasing production, and by rigid economy and saving on the part of the people can we hope for large decreases in the burdensome cost of living which now weighs us down.

The Director General of Railroads and I have felt that a peculiar responsibility rests upon us, because in determining this question we are not studying the balance sheets of corporations, but in effect determining the burden of taxation which must fall upon the people of the country in general. We are acting not for private corporations, but in the name of the Government and the public, and must assess our responsibility accodingly. For it is neither wise nor feasible to take care of increases in the wages of railroad employees at this time by increase in freight rates. It is impossible at this time, until peace has come and normal conditions are restored, to estimate what the earning capacity of the railroads will be when ordinary conditionsreturn. There is no certain basis, therefore, for calculating what the increases of freight rates should be, and it is necessary, for the time being at any rate, to take care of all increases in the wages of railway employees through appropriations from the public Treasury.

In such circumstances it seems clear to us, and I believe will seem clear to every thoughtful American, including the shopmen themselves when they have taken second thought, and to all wage earners of every kind, that we ought to postpone questions of this sort until normal conditions come again and we have the opportunity for certain calculations as to the relations between wages and the cost of living. It is the duty of every citizen of the country to insist upon a truce in such contest until intelligent settlements can be made and made by peaceful and effective common counsel. I appeal to my fellow citizens of every employment to cooperate in insisting upon and maintaining such a truce, and to cooperate also in sustaining the Government in what I conceive to be the only course which conscientious public servants can pursue. Demands uniwisely made and passionately insisted upon at this time menace the peace and prosperity of the country as nothing else could, and thus contribute to bring about the very results which such demands are intended to remedy.

There is, however, one claim made by the railway shopmen which ought to be met. They claim that they are not enjoying the same advantages that other railway employees are enjoying because their wages are calculated upon a different basis. The wagesof other railway employees are based upon the rule that they are to receive for eight hours' work the same pay they received for the longer workday that was the usual standard of the pre-war period. This claim is, I am told, well founded; and I concur in the conclusion of the Director General that the shopmen ought to be given the additional four cents as hour which the readjustment asked for will justify. There are certain other adjustments, also, pointed out in the report of the Director General, which ought in fairness to be made, and which will be made.

Let me add, also, that the position which the Government must in conscience take against general increases in wage levels while the present exceptional and temporary circumstances exist will of course not preclude the Railroad Administration from giving prompt and careful consideration to any claims that may be made by other classes of employees for readjustments believed to be proper to secure impartial treatment for all who work in the railway service.

WOODROW WILSON
The White House.